Thanks for the info.

For example, using LUFS integrated for a song that has 4m of quiet audio and 30s of ear piecing volume, and then trying to match that meter reading with audio which has 4m and 30s of uninterrupted loudness is just pointless. My tip would be to meter 20s of the loudest section and 20s of the quietest to give a more workable reading for comparison.

I've been using youlean and 'mastering' at -14LFUS, seems to work pretty good. If I was working with house money I would just pay for professional mastering.

I checked out ozone and I'm considering it, however the last one to suggest it spammed my email with a bunch of rude nonsense, so I've been hesitant (maybe he was working on commission). Several have mentioned it now though, so it is probably worth the $60 US.

All these tips are helpful, the youlean suggestion alone has made a big difference. I will probably keep going the DIY route for now so I can have reign over the dynamics (the compression I hear on local radio is almost unlistenable now).

Keep the tips coming, anything involving the final steps it what I need. Format and quality is also something I am not familiar enough with. I've been doing max quality MP3s for this site, but others have said use max quality WAV files for youtube.

I made a video here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkQ62tvPlVVb2WLppjRfPdQ

Loudness Meter Plugin

I used an MP3 and it sounds fine to me, what do you think?